Nagavanshi (
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...
: Nāgavaṃśī) refers to several Indian
Kshatriya
Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...
dynasties or ruling groups claiming descent from the mythical
Nāga
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
s. Along with
Suryavanshi,
Agnivanshi and
Chandravanshi
The Lunar dynasty (IAST: Candravaṃśa) is a legendary principal house of the Kshatriyas varna, or warrior–ruling varna (Social Class) mentioned in the ancient Indian texts. This legendary dynasty was said to be descended from moon-relate ...
, the Nagavanshi clans form a part of the Kshatriya class in the
Varna
Varna may refer to:
Places Europe
*Varna, Bulgaria, a city
** Varna Province
** Varna Municipality
** Gulf of Varna
** Lake Varna
**Varna Necropolis
* Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy
* Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia
Asia
* Var ...
system
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
of India. The notable members of this class include:
*
Nair
The Nair (, ) also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom hi ...
s, who ruled in Kerala
*
Nagas of Chotanagpur, who ruled in Chota Nagpur, Jharkhand
*
Nagas of Padmavati, who ruled in Madhya Pradesh
*
Nagas of Vidisha, who ruled in Madhya Pradesh
*
Nagas of Vindhyatabi, ancient dynasty of Odisha
*
Nagas of Panna State, who ruled in Madhya Pradesh
*
Nagas of Kalahandi, who ruled in Kalahandi, Odisha
*
Chindaka Naga, who ruled in Chhattisgarh and Odisha
*
Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya, medieval Buddhist dynasty formed in
Magadha
Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
by a branch of the Chindaka Nagas
*
Alupas (part of the
Bunt community), ancient dynasty of Karnataka
*
Bunts (
Shetty and
Chowtas), who ruled in Karnataka
References
{{reflist
Hindu snake worship
Ethnic groups in South Asia
Ethnic groups in India